If you have any problems understanding the pronunciation symbols, go to this Pronunciation Chart for clarifications.

1. Characterized as worthy of reverence: Maria was a holy woman who inspired worship and reverence from others.
2. Characterized by the intensity of a situation: The children's playroom looked like a holy mess!

1. Vacation, a time during which an individual does not have a normal work schedule: For Rena's and Myrna's summer holiday, they are going to go to the mountains.
2. A day that is identified as a celebration for a significant event: The holiday this weekend is to celebrate the establishment of the new university.

A special day designated for the celebration of religious events or observances: The pastor suggested they designate the first day of summer as a holy day and have special church services to commemorate it.

Tomorrow we have a holiday from school because it is a holy day for many religions and churches.

To sharpen or to make intense and effective: Chad tried to hone his speaking skills by practicing every day.

As the scientists started to home in on a solution, they felt as if they had used a hone on their brains which were so tired. When they announced the solution, they cheered and then all of them went home to rest.

A word that is identical with another one in spelling, but is different from it in origin and meaning, and sometimes in pronunciation: The words "bass" referring to a fish, and "bass" referring to the quality of the male voice, are examples of homographs.

A word with an identical spelling as another one but with different pronunciations and meanings: The word "row" is an example of a heteronym; such as, "row" meaning objects in a line and "row" meaning a quarrel or fight.

Whenever Laura is stumped about a definition for a confusing-word group, she checks the online dictionary because it is precise and clear; for example, homonym and homophone refer to words that have similar definitions, but the term homophone is more precise.

Two other words are homograph and heteronym which include spellings that may be the same; however, the definitions are very different.

1. An excessive hatred of or fear of monotony [doing the same thing over and over again]: Jerome had homophobia regarding his job because he considered it to be so terribly boring repeating the same process over and over.

In this case, the elements homo-, hom- come from Greek meaning "same, common".

2. A fear of or an intense apprehension or hatred of homosexuality or homosexuals in general: Sally's feelings of homophobia were so intense that she avoided the so called "Gay Parade" that was going on in the city.
3. An "obsolete term" for someone who has an abnormal fear or hatred for human beings: The Latin element, Homo is a genus (group of more than one species) of the family Homoinidae of which Homo sapiens is the only living species and so Homophobia in this case refers to a pathological fear of humankind, humanity, or people in general.

A fear of, dread of, or strong contempt for lesbians and gay men: It was difficult for him to conceal his homosexualphobia when he saw two guys hugging and kissing each other on the bus going into town.

Whenever Jack hears a negative reference regarding homophobia, or intense fear and hatred of homosexuals, his friend, who is a gay activist speaks up, insisting that the speaker should use the more accurate term which is homosexualphobia; because homophobia has another application; such as, a fear or dread of being bored or having to endure monotony; that is, having a lack of variety in his life.

A specified sum of money paid on a periodic basis for services or expenses: Norman received a stipend from his company at the beginning of each year to pay for his housing costs.

Rebekah's contract stated that she would be paid a specific stipend at the end of the year and she was also encouraged to accept an honorarium which the university was offering when she delivered a speech there.

1. A ring or band of stiff material; such as, wood, used to hold pieces of an object together: The cooper used willow withes to create the hoop to hold the staves of the barrel in place.
2. A ring of metal, wood or plastic used as a toy: The children rolled the hoop down the street. The girl next door won the hula hoop competition this week.